Myron Kukla | mlive.comTrainers Elnian Gilbert and Stas Kazmierski deliver the goods on Zingerman's Amazing Customer Service to 350 Lakeshore business people at Tuesday morning seminar in Holland.

HOLLAND, MI -- It isn’t the piles of corned beef on the sandwiches at Zingerman’s Delicatessen in Ann Arbor that has made the one-location restaurant a $12 million a year business.

It’s the company credo of delivering “amazing customer service” along with top quality food that has delivered the success.

That was the message ZingTRAIN corporate trainer Stas Kazmierski brought to 350 Lakeshore business people Tuesday during a half-day workshop at the Doubletree Inn sponsored by the Holland Chamber of Commerce and the city’s downtown merchants association.

Kazmierski said the same focus on customer service training that made Zingerman’s a “must visit landmark eatery” in Ann Arbor is now used through eight associate Zingerman-related businesses with 560 employees and $42 million a year in sales.

“Most customers don’t complain about bad service. They just take their business elsewhere and then tell everyone they know about their bad experience,” said co-presenter Elnian Gilbert during the presentation on The Art of Giving Great Customer Service.

Founded in 1982 as a five-table deli by University of Michigan graduates Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw, the company since 1993 has taken the non-traditional growth path of creating related food companies instead of opening additional restaurant locations or going the franchise route.

Today in addition to the deli, there is a Zingerman’s bakery, mail order business, ice cream company, coffee company, roadhouse restaurant, candy business and ZingTRAIN business training company.

One of the main principals for all of the businesses is the “10-4 rule.”

“When a customer is within 10 feet of a staff member, we make eye contact and smile. Within four feet, we greet the customer and engage them in conversation. This applies to internal customers as well, like co-workers,” said Kazmierski who is managing partner of ZingTRAIN.

He said one businesswoman who attended a ZingTRAIN seminar immediately took the concept back to her restaurant, trained staff on the idea in a 10-minute session before opening and the next week business rose 6 percent and kept going up.

Also emphasized was the need for staff to “go the extra mile” for customers and “getting customers what they want accurately, politely and with enthusiasm.” Sections of the seminar had video of Zingerman staff talking about examples of the Zingerman customer service philosophy in action.

“Anyone can take an order and deliver food. Making personal contact and going the extra mile is something a we do at Zingerman’s that makes a difference in the customer experience,” says one staffer.

“Doing even little things the customer doesn’t ask for, like asking if you can store their shopping bags while they eat, is a nice experience for them,” says another.

“I worked at (a) restaurant and all they cared about was how much bling we wore, not the customer satisfaction,” said a third.

Zingerman staffers also are required to fill out a “Code Red” card when things go bad that specifies the problem, such as an incorrect order, what the server did to fix the problem and recommendation for how the company can fix the problem in the future.

Staff also fill out a “Code Green” card that specifies a great customer experience.

Lori Varner, vice president of sales and marketing with Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels in Holland, called the seminar a great experience for all those in sales, service and hospitality.

“We are in an age where people have a lot of choice on where they shop and spend their money. If you provide great customer service it keeps customers happy and they keep coming back,” Varner said. “If you don’t, you’re not likely to see them again.”

Holland Chamber President Jane Clark said the seminar was a sell-out.

“The interest in the Zingerman training was so great we had to turn people away. We’re looking at setting up another seminar this year for those who missed this one.”